The Marsalis Family

A trumpeter squared his shoulders, issued short rhythmic bursts based on one note, and then built a crowd-pleasing yet complex solo. A drummer mined a flexible groove, sharing a glance now and then—locking in—with a pianist whose harmonic shifts urged along the song. The three musicians bore a striking resemblance to one another. No coincidence: The trumpeter and drummer were Adam and Zachary O’Farrill, 15 and 18 years old, respectively. The pianist was their dad, Arturo O’Farrill, whose distinctions at age 50 include directing the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra.Read more »

You read that headline correctly: saxophonist Branford Marsalis was born half a century ago today. Some of us will want a minute to absorb that information. Take one if you need it.

Branford has a new album out this week with the Marsalis Family, which is naturally part of his claim to fame. That’s not what I want to talk about here, though. I’d like to talk about the specific achievements of Ellis’ eldest son: as a saxophonist, as a bandleader, and as a public figure besides. (Forgive me, folks, this may get a little personal.)

Intellectually, we are, of course, aware that the Marsalis family is chocked full of hugely talented musicians. Nonethe­less, when the emcee of this concert introduces each one of them by name — saxophonist Branford, trumpeter Wynton, trombonist Delfeayo, drummer/vibest Jason (in their birth order) and finally patriarch “maestro” Ellis Marsalis, one can’t help but marvel. Later, photographer/writer Ellis Marsalis III adds his voice to the mix.Read more »

The Marsalis family rarely plays together, but the brothers seized the opportunity to do so last summer in honor of 75-year-old patriarch/pianist Ellis Marsalis. All proceeds from a new jazz album capturing that exuberant event will help fund educational programming at a community center bearing his name in the Musicians’ Village in New Orleans.Read more »

The Marsalis Family, “Music Redeems” (Marsalis Music, on sale by Aug. 24). Irresistible. Consummate jazz show business recorded in concert at the Kennedy Center, from the opening salvo, family drummer Jason whistling, trading four-bar phrases with trumpet player Wynton and then merging with him on Charlie Parker’s “Donna Lee” before family patriarch Ellis — arguably the greatest father in jazz history — takes the kind of solo a pianist has to take when he’s in the company of musicians as fine as his sons.Read more »

Marsalis Music, the record label founded by saxophonist Branford Marsalis, will release a live album featuring his family on August 24.Branford Marsalis

“Music Redeems” was recorded at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. in June 2009 when patriarch and pianist Ellis Marsalis received the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Read more »

Combined generations of the Marsalis family will release their Music Redeems (Marsalis Music) on Aug. 24. The CD is a recording of the family’s performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., last year when patriarch Ellis Marsalis received the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Proceeds from the disc’s sales will benefit the Ellis Marsalis Center For Music In New Orleans. Read more »

Since the release of The Marsalis Family: A Jazz Celebration in 2003 members of the Marsalis Family have been hard at work pursuing divergent but equally intriguing musical endeavors. In 2005 Ellis Marsalis, the patriarch of the family released An Evening with the Ellis Marsalis Quartet on ELM Records, a label he is developing with his wife, Dolores, and son Jason.